Alabama fire chief confirms deaths as fire destroys 35 boats
January 27, 2020 9:57AM CST
A fire burns on a dock where at least 35 vessels, many of them houseboats, were destroyed by fire early Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in Scottsboro, Ala. Scottsboro Fire Chief Gene Necklaus is confirming fatalities in a massive fire at a boat dock. (DeWayne Patterson/Jackson County Sentinel via AP)
(AP) — Boaters leaped into the water to escape a fire that consumed at least 35 vessels docked along the Tennessee River.
Authorities say there were fatalities as seven people were sent to hospitals and seven others were initially reported missing.
The blaze was reported shortly after midnight as people living in the boats were sleeping, and consumed the wooden dock and an aluminum roof that covered many of the vessels, cutting off escape routes and raining debris into the water.
Jackson County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Rocky Harnen tells The Associated Press that they’re trying to get divers to search for possible victims.
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